On Football and Stability

There’s so much to say since last week that I can’t quite focus on any one thing. There’s the ascendancy of the Giants, the bumbling of the Jets in just about every way, the end of Brett Favre’s starting streak and, for many of us, there are the fantasy football playoffs.

I should first say that I’m not a Jets fan anymore. Everybody seems to think I am. It bugs me. Brett Favre and Eric Mangini pretty much killed any feeling I may have had for them. When they rid themselves of those two clowns, they still had Tannenbaum running things and Woody Johnson at the helm so the Jets are just a team that I can’t root for.

I do like Rex Ryan, of course, and how could I not like Mark Sanchez and LaDainian Tomlinson and even Santonio Holmes? The rest of that bunch you can have, from Braylon Edwards and Jason Taylor to Shonn Greene and Jericho Cotchery.

Contrast them with the Giants. They’re a lot easier on my psyche. I mean, what’s not to like about the Maras? They’ve owned the team forever, they treat everybody with respect and they didn’t even make the taxpayers fund their new stadium.

Of course, sometimes I take issue with how slow they are to react to obvious bad things. That horrible defensive coordinator of last year, for example, should have been dumped around the middle of the season along with some of the horrible non-coverage people in their secondary.

But giving people an entire year to prove or disprove their competence is all wrapped up with showing consideration and respect. You have to take the good with the bad. It’s part and parcel of stability.

I hate to say it but stability is exactly what the Jets seem to be missing right now. It was understandable that they would lose to the Patriots, especially playing without their defensive stalwart Leonhard, but one could have expected them to bounce back against the Dolphins, even a Dolphins team playing for their playoffs lives.

They did not come remotely close to bouncing back, not unless you take only the narrowest possible definition of bouncing back. Their defense wasn’t bad at all. It was just everything else about their game that was lacking. Their running game was non-existent, that ballyhooed offensive line seemed lacking, their receivers stunk out the joint and the game plan in general seemed discordant. I defy anyone to tell me what their plan was.

Then there are the other disturbing signs, the behavioral issues of not just their players but the management as well. More and more it seems that, as a head coach, Rex makes one hell of a defensive coordinator. He still seems to accept overall responsibility for the whole team only grudgingly.

Don’t expect the Jets to beat the Steelers this Sunday. I certainly don’t. I’ll bet the Steelers don’t either, which, come to think of it, might be the only thing working in the Jets favor. The Steelers aren’t impervious to problems either. They have their own offensive problems. The Jets chances will hinge on their ability to run the ball and Santonio Holmes, the discarded Steeler who may just love to stick it to his old team.

As for the G-Men, they really have their work cut out for them with Mike Vick and the high-flying Eagles on tap. It wasn’t a good sign that the Cowboys couldn’t run against what had been a suspect run defense before their game. If the Giants can’t get impressive numbers from the Bradshaw-Jacobs duo, it could be all over but the shouting. But if they can run, they’ll keep Vick off the field, not to mention DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy.

It always comes down to those two things, running and stopping the run, especially in December. Not even the great ones at quarterback can overcome those deficiencies consistently. And the fact that the G-Men just shut down Adrian Peterson bodes well for their chances on Sunday. But the Eagles have an offensive line that the Vikings did not.

But, and this is significant, one can expect the Giants to overcome their problems, whatever they may be. They have already dealt with the secondary, the pass rush, defending the run, and changed their offensive tactics to incorporate more running and the heavy use of the tight end.

But their resiliency has never included coaches tripping up opponents on the sidelines. You get the feeling they are rock solid in every way.

Of course, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. And Ryan may be able to salvage his situation, much as he did last year when he used red and green colors to easily direct his rookie QB in avoiding turnovers. I’m rooting for him to do it too.

But there may be only so many rabbits in his hat. And his other problem players may not be as responsive as was Mark Sanchez. You get the feeling they’ll break if you press them.

I might be firmly in the Giants corner but my heart lies with my fantasy team this weekend. My Crabs have an up-hill battle too as Drew Brees will be facing the tough Ravens, Ahmad Bradshaw has a hurt wrist, Knowshon Moreno has a new coach and Miles Austin can’t seem to get on Jon Kitna’s good side. Vernon Davis, my tight end, should continue getting good numbers. Those are my definite starters. It gets tougher after that.

Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin are really talented receivers but, with Tarvaris Jackson on the other end, things are really iffy. But Austin Collie may not play, Jahvid Best seems to never get the ball, and Tashard Choice may still be starry-eyed over Michael Vick. The usually reliable Brandon Lloyd has been decidedly less so as defenses have adapted to the Broncos long passing game.

Things will clear up by Sunday morning though. They always do. As a team, these Crabs are solid.